


Amsterdam

by significantowl



Category: Merlin (BBC), Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Community: summerpornathon, M/M, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-21
Updated: 2010-08-21
Packaged: 2017-10-11 04:43:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/108536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/significantowl/pseuds/significantowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Arthur doesn't go to Amsterdam because he's looking for pot or tulips or anonymous sex.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Amsterdam

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the modern AU challenge at summerpornathon; edited/expanded version.

Arthur doesn't go to Amsterdam because he's looking for pot or tulips or anonymous sex. His reasons are to do with business, as they so often are. But when his P.A. goes to book at the usual hotel - sleek, modern, luxurious - he stops her, says he'd like to try somewhere new. He's in the mood for a slight change, is all.

He ends up in a tiny place in a seventeenth-century canal house, run by an elderly couple who know the perfect amount of English: enough to understand important phrases like "private bath" (there are some things that Arthur refuses to do without), but not enough to ask him questions, or recognise his name.

The staircase is narrow, like everything in the house, and becomes progressively more so the higher Arthur climbs. By the fourth floor, it's barely passable; Arthur has to carry his suitcase in front of him, held at an awkward angle in his arms. He huffs and puffs and complains, but secretly - very secretly - enjoys making the memory.

Before he leaves Arthur will find out what it's like to stumble up these stairs with his arms around another man's waist, kissing so fast and so hard he won't look where to put his feet. He'll get pressed to the wall when there's still two flights left to go, his hips will snap and thrust, and he'll babble _stairs, more stairs_ as his body ruts, helpless to do anything else. They'll make it behind a closed door eventually, after Arthur's full, stiff cock turns every remaining step into perfect torture.

~

Arthur takes breakfast every morning in the tiny dining room, which would feel unbearably cramped if not for the tall windows letting in wonderful warm light and a perfect view of the canal. The coffee's a little strong for Arthur's taste, but he's enjoying eating his way through the different types of cheeses, and becoming quite a fan of the soft bread spread with butter and chocolate sprinkles.

It's two days before he meets the other Englishman at the hotel. Merlin.

Merlin is tall, lean, dark-haired, and rumpled in his jeans and deep red jumper. Upon entering, he immediately begins loading his plate with everything sweet - Arthur notices this with a strange sense of superiority, as if he himself hadn't got double sprinkles that morning. When the little old lady points Merlin towards the coffee, he smiles, remarkably bright, and Arthur thinks he may be in for a disappointment when he tastes it.

And if Arthur's staring, that's why - to see the moment that grin changes. He doesn't get caught, because of the newspaper he happens to be holding up. And that paper is what draws Merlin over, because it clues him in that Arthur speaks English; it's really what starts it all.

Arthur has always been partial to the _Times_.

~

Arthur doesn't intend to go to the flower market, but Merlin proves utterly incapable of repeating back the clear, simple directions Arthur gives him, and Arthur's afraid to let him out on the streets alone.

He buys a tulip bulb for Morgana that he's promised is purple and rare. Merlin buys an orange one, and then, snatching it up as if he can't help himself, a yellow one with streaks; Arthur knows bugger-all about the symbolism of different sorts of flowers, but the way Merlin's cheeks stain red has to mean something.

At another stall, Merlin carefully selects three bulbs that will bloom pure white. Arthur doesn't know the meaning behind those either, but this time he doesn't like the look on Merlin's face as he pays, the way it goes tight and still and wrong. When he remembers later, between the sheets, he'll hook an arm around Merlin's bare shoulder, press a kiss at the join with Merlin's neck. Slowly, he'll let it linger, let it count.

~

Arthur's never been to one of Amsterdam's coffeeshops before (and why don't they just call them what they are? Certainly not a place for coffee), and he's not surprised to find out that he hates it. Hates the hazy darkness, the smoke; hates the few puffs he does take, the horrible, dizzying feeling of floating beyond control.

The feeling of Merlin slumped warm against his shoulder is better, much better. Perhaps even makes it worth it. When Merlin's hand drops onto Arthur's knee, Arthur threads his through Merlin's soft hair. When Merlin's hand shifts up to Arthur's thigh, Arthur pulls Merlin to his lips.

~

The night air is cool, but it doesn't clear Arthur's head as quickly as he'd like. The city lights glimmer strangely in the dark waters of the canal, and it doesn't help him tell up from down, the real world from the fantasy.

It would be nice to be sober. Arthur says so, complaining, and says it again when Merlin doesn't speak, Merlin doesn't agree.

Arthur stops dead in the street. Someone swears in Dutch, pushes past him, knocking against his elbow, and yes, that's real. Good. Arthur grabs for Merlin's hand, traps it, makes him real too.

They sleep in Arthur's bed under the gabled roof that night, and Arthur hooks his ankle around Merlin's leg to keep from spinning out into the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> tulip meanings used:  
> purple - royalty  
> orange - energy, desire, passion  
> variegated/streaked - beautiful eyes  
> white - remembrance, eternal rest

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [I want to wake up in Amsterdam (The Golden Age Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/125340) by [glim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/glim/pseuds/glim)




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